Control cable trick!

[seasick]

I can't take credit for this idea but I want to let you know how it worked out.
On my new to me OTHERBOAT, I have dual motors and control. The starboard motor control was really tight, a bear to move, both shift and throttle. I researched the web and found a few videos on how to lube binding cables and make like new. Yeah right but I decided to give it a shot since replacing the cables was a nasty job on my hull.
You can search for the videos but here is a description of what I did.
Remove the cables from the control box. I did not undo the cables at the motor even though the videos said to do so.

Attach a 2 foot or so piece of old fuel line to the control cable slipping it past the sliding rod onto the casing of the cable. Choose a fuel lie size that fits the diameter of the cable. Put a hose clamp on the line to keep it in place.
Hold the fuel line upright so that you can fill it with penetrant and/or oil. For my really tight cable I started with WD40 followed by a load of light machine oil.
Attach a compressor to the open end of the hose and apply about 40 to 50 psi of pressure. I made up a fitting for the air connection by connecting two male air fittings back to back, One slides into the hose end and the other connects to the female disconnect on the compressor hose.

The interesting part is that although you might expect air to swoosh in, it doesn't. It almost seems that nothing is happening. I ran the air for an hour and a half, checking every 30 minutes or so to see if there was still oil in the piece of fuel line. If you look at the motor ends of the cables, eventually you will see water/penetrant/oil dripping out. Just let it run till you are sure the dripping is clean oil.

I was hoping that the cables would loosen up a bit but to my surprise, they are like new! When I first reassembled the control handles and tried them, I though I forgot to reconnect the cable ends to the clevis pins.

A lot of things on this boat have not gone smoothly but in this case, it made my day

 

[DennisG01]

That's GREAT to hear! I've heard numerous times about people "suggesting" to do that, in regards to someone asking about tight cables. But I have never heard from someone that actually did it.. Most comments about this have always seem to have been "re-tweets" with no actual experience. Thanks for posting this!

 

[Ozz043]

Well done
Gee I wish there was a “like” button similar to Facebook....

 

[stripedo]

That is awesome! I'm having new mechanical F300's put on my 330 Express as we speak. I am going to do this when I get it back. Thanks!

 

[seasick]

That is awesome! I'm having new mechanical F300's put on my 330 Express as we speak. I am going to do this when I get it back. Thanks!

Let us know how it works out for you. Let me reemphasize that it can take as much as a hour for the oil to make it all the way through the cable and you may need to refill the hose attachment a few times during that time. Good luck

 

[wbdenamur]

I watched the same thing but I only disconnected the control cable at the motor end. I used the same technique and forced a lightweight oil up the cable for about 30 minutes, working the shifter occasionally. It now works like new and my shop had wanted to replace them. I am very happy. It was much easier than disconnecting at the shifter end.

 

[seasick]

I watched the same thing but I only disconnected the control cable at the motor end. I used the same technique and forced a lightweight oil up the cable for about 30 minutes, working the shifter occasionally. It now works like new and my shop had wanted to replace them. I am very happy. It was much easier than disconnecting at the shifter end.

Either end will work as long as you have a cable end that allows the hose to be firmly clamped on. In many cases, the end you choose depends on how difficult it is to get to eh cable end at the control versus the motor.

This technique wont fix broken or frayed cable cores, just gummed up ones.

 

[seasick]

I watched the same thing but I only disconnected the control cable at the motor end. I used the same technique and forced a lightweight oil up the cable for about 30 minutes, working the shifter occasionally. It now works like new and my shop had wanted to replace them. I am very happy. It was much easier than disconnecting at the shifter end.

May I ask what pressure you ran the air at? I found that 50 psi worked better than the original suggestion of 40 psi but I guess that could be different depending on the cable specifics as well as their internal condition.

 

[wbdenamur]

I used 50 psi. I chose to disconnect the motor end also
because I could work the throttle the entire time to help facilitate the oil movement.

 

[seasick]

I used 50 psi. I chose to disconnect the motor end also
because I could work the throttle the entire time to help facilitate the oil movement.

Hey, that's a great tip!

 

[stripedo]

What size hose (ID) did you use to slide over the cable?

 

[seasick]

What size hose (ID) did you use to slide over the cable?

In my case, a short (18in) length of 3/8 in ID fuel line worked perfectly. I used a screw clamp to keep it in place just in case it wanted to slip off

 

[Halfhitch]

Pressure lubing of "Push-Pull" control cables has been being done for a long time. We always kept several different setups that had been built for different applications that were well done. We had heavy equipment of all sorts and makes to keep running and in the old days, push-pull cables were used for lots of functions. Over the years we learned that getting over-zealous with the pressure can cause problems of its' own. Some cables have polymer liners that provide low friction operation with little lubrication and can be damaged with too much air. If the cable is too clogged due to corrosion or whatever, we found at times the lubrication we were forcing would travel outside the inner liner but inside the outer cover and even though we had fluid movement the cable was still seized. It took us awhile to figure out what was happening. At times we were in sub-zero temperatures where moisture from earlier rains would freeze and seize the cable so in the fall we would make it a point to force a glycol solution through the cables to help prevent freezing. On our boats where we can easily remove the slave end of the cable and apply the apparatus being discussed it is best if you use a hose with large enough diameter so the end of the cable is not restricted. This allows you the ability to make that tube long enough to go well above the binnacle so you can fill that tube up and have gravity on your side while you work the cable in its sheath using the binnacle control. Work the cable back and forth a few times and leave it overnite. If you don't see oil on the nice white cloth you put under the binnacle end for a tattle tale then work the lever again. Air pressure speeds things up for sure, we made 20 psi our max, but it can be done without it.

 

[seasick]

Pressure lubing of "Push-Pull" control cables has been being done for a long time. We always kept several different setups that had been built for different applications that were well done. We had heavy equipment of all sorts and makes to keep running and in the old days, push-pull cables were used for lots of functions. Over the years we learned that getting over-zealous with the pressure can cause problems of its' own. Some cables have polymer liners that provide low friction operation with little lubrication and can be damaged with too much air. If the cable is too clogged due to corrosion or whatever, we found at times the lubrication we were forcing would travel outside the inner liner but inside the outer cover and even though we had fluid movement the cable was still seized. It took us awhile to figure out what was happening. At times we were in sub-zero temperatures where moisture from earlier rains would freeze and seize the cable so in the fall we would make it a point to force a glycol solution through the cables to help prevent freezing. On our boats where we can easily remove the slave end of the cable and apply the apparatus being discussed it is best if you use a hose with large enough diameter so the end of the cable is not restricted. This allows you the ability to make that tube long enough to go well above the binnacle so you can fill that tube up and have gravity on your side while you work the cable in its sheath using the binnacle control. Work the cable back and forth a few times and leave it overnite. If you don't see oil on the nice white cloth you put under the binnacle end for a tattle tale then work the lever again. Air pressure speeds things up for sure, we made 20 psi our max, but it can be done without it.

Good info. Thanks.
I have another cable set that I am going to "lubricate'" and I will try the lower pressure. I have been thinking about using a small hand pump to pressurize the line. Since you feel that no pressure will work, the hand pump might help in situations where lugging a compressor and hoses is a problem.In this case the boat is in a slip at a marina.

 

[Halfhitch]

You are right seasick, a bicycle pump will work as good as a 500 hp compressor. The volume required is miniscule.

 

[DennisG01]

I'm still thinking of trying this out in a few weeks I'm not in front of my engine right now... there's a little fitting on the end of the cable (at the engine end), right? Does that disconnect to allow the hose to fit over the cable?

I think the downside to a bike pump is that you may have to continually be pumping it. I would imagine that the air would escape out the other end rather quickly - maybe as quickly as you pump it in - most likely for sure after any "gunk" or blockages gets softened up. A cheap little pancake compressor (good tool to have, anyways!) might be a good way to go. Just guessing on all this, though, since I haven't actually done it. Yup... just convinced myself to buy a little pancake compressor... boy, that was easy. :mrgreen:

 

[Halfhitch]

A person should remove whatever is on the end of the cable that is easily removable, then put a reinforced piece of hose(if you are going to pressurize) over that is large enough not to restrict the inner if you plan on working the cable. Then wrap a half a roll or so of electrical tape around the cable or whatever it takes to fit just snug in the hose, building up a section long enough to allow two hose clamps installed 180 degrees opposite each other. If you keep your air pressure reasonable, leakage is not excessive if the other end is well done also.